Dwell Time
How long a container, vehicle or consignment sits stationary at a facility before moving on.
Dwell time measures the stationary period at a node — a port, terminal, hub or warehouse. It is a diagnostic measure rather than a charge: high dwell means capital tied up in stationary goods and congestion consuming space that could hold moving freight.
It is closely related to demurrage but not the same thing. Demurrage is money charged after free time; dwell is the total time spent regardless of who pays. A facility can have healthy dwell and heavy demurrage if free time is set too tight, or terrible dwell and no demurrage if it is set too generously.
Breaking dwell into components is what makes it actionable — time awaiting documentation, awaiting clearance, awaiting a vehicle, awaiting handling equipment. An aggregate dwell figure tells you there is a problem; the split tells you whose it is.
Related terms
Time & charges
Where waiting turns into money — in both directions.
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